7 Ways This Week's Raw Was A Major Turning Point In WWE;s 'Divas Revolution'
September 14, 2015 was a critical night for the supposed ‘new direction’ of women’s wrestling in WWE
September 14th, 2015 was touted as being the ‘season premiere’ of Raw, as if last week’s episode was some kind of dramatic episode ending an earlier season of the show. It was described by the Authority as some kind of legitimately ‘can’t-miss TV’. Of course, the only part of the show that was actually worth tuning in for was the continuation of the supposed ‘Divas Revolution’ and the Divas Championship match.
Needless to say, last night represented a major turning point for the Divas Revolution.
One of the most common idioms in international relations is that the more things change, the more they say the same. Unfortunately, despite WWE’s power-brokers and commentators forcing the term ‘Divas Revolution’ down the fans’ throats, the same can be said of how women’s wrestling is presented on WWE’s main shows.
This week's Raw was supposed to be the perfect moment for the Divas Revolution to go in a new direction, to do something bold and exciting, and to really shake things up in WWE. Sadly, the status quo prevailed, and in more ways than one.
September 14th, 2015 will be forever remembered as the day the Divas Revolution hit a major roadblock, which it might not ever recover from. Whether it’s from in-ring action, booking decisions, or backstage occurrences, there are many reasons why the Divas Revolution reached a major turning point on the most recent episode of Monday Night RAW…
7. Stephanie McMahon Used The Term 'Divas Revolution' For Herself...Again
A revolution, whether real or manufactured, works best when it’s done from a bottom-up approach. In other words, when someone at the bottom rises up, challenges the existing authority, and brings about genuine change. In WWE, this almost happened…until Stephanie McMahon got involved with the movement.
Whether it’s because of creative difficulties or from her own inflated ego, Stephanie's character was shoehorned into the Divas Revolution storyline for no reason whatsoever. SHE was the one who introduced Charlotte, Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch onto the main roster, and for a brief moment, became something of a heroine to those who actually wanted to see change in WWE.
This week we saw this once again, as Stephanie plugged the Divas match. While she didn’t say it outright, by attaching her character to arguably the biggest match in the movement’s history, Stephanie took away from the story once again.
Unbeknownst to her, Stephanie’s character once again demonstrated why she’s a hindrance to storytelling in WWE: instead of progressing the storyline and using her negative qualities to make the show more watchable, just when her heel character gets more heat, she does something heroic or positive to deflect that heat.
Because of Stephanie’s involvement, the whole storyline didn’t feel as genuine. Instead of giving viewers a real story that they can invest in, about three young women who want to change the status quo by themselves, they became pawns for Stephanie McMahon to use in order to continue to justify her on-screen presence.